Security Council extends Minurso mandate

The Security Council decided Monday to extend up to next December 14 the mandate of the Minurso, UN mission in charge of the referendum in the Sahara.

The three-month extension is to help the UN mission complete identification operations, make an overall assessment of measures taken to ensure the success of the appeals procedure, prepare for the repatriation of refugees and make arrangements for the transition period.

The council also asked Secretary General, Kofi Annan, to inform it every 45 days on the progress made in the implementation of the UN peace plan.

The United Nations is planning to hold a self-determination referendum in the Sahara by July 2000.

The vote will determine whether the Sahara, a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords, remains part of the kingdom or sets up on its own.

Addressing the council following the adoption of the UN secretary general's report on the Sahara, Moroccan permanent representative at the UN, Ahmed Snoussi, said Morocco has always called the UN to consider the candidates of tribal groups as identified people because they are genuine Sahrawis who were not covered by the Spanish census. These Sahrawis had quitted the territory to escape the Spanish colonizer's repression.

Regarding the appeals challenging the decisions of the identification commission, the Moroccan diplomat said their number which reached 60,000 shows the dissatisfaction of the Moroccan would-be voters who have through different means drawn the UN attention to the deviations in the identification process.

On the repatriation of Sahrawi refugees sequestered in the Tindouf camps (southwestern Algeria), Snoussi said Morocco regrets the delays noticed in this operation and urges the HCR to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety and protection of the sequestered refugees.